Stapling machine



Dec. 19, 1933. J. B. cRoFooT 1,939,666

STAPLING MACHINE Filed March 5l, 1950 PatenteclDec. 19., 1.933

.UNITED STATES PATE-Nr OFFICE l i t A fresas@ y l John nl. ApplicationMarch 31, 1930. SerialV No. 440,326

. Y 6 Claims.

This invention relates to stapling machines, and, has forits object jtoprovide for partially clinching the prongs vor legs of the staple anddriving themY into relatively soft material with aY reasonably secureretentive effect.

The invention has more particularly to do with devices of4 the 'abovenoted character for attaching label cards to corrugatedpaper car-tons,or in other uses where the material isY of such character that a nail orstaple will not holdwithout being clinched or at least bent or deformedtoa consid,- erable extent. The invention consists in the novelprovisionsin the machine, and in the particular parts and combinationsand arrangements of parts as hereinafter described and set forth in theappended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, illustrating .a practical adaptation oftheinvention,- V

Fig. 1 is a view of the machine, partly in side elevation and partly inlongitudinal vertical section; Y 1

Fig. 2 is afragmentaryhorizontal section, on

an enlarged scale, taken onor about the line 2 2 3 is afragmentaryyertical section,.ta.ken

on or about the line 3--3 of Fig'. l, and on the same Ascale as Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is `a plan view of the staple deforming platedetached; L A y IFig. 5 is an end view of said plate; Fig. `6 is a fragmentary planviewo:fl a strip from which the `staples are cut;

Fig. 7` is a fragmentary plan viewillustrating a shipping tagv appliedto the wall of a carton in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 8 is a section on thelinefoffFig. fl; .and Fig. 9 is a perspectiveview, on an enlarged sea-le, illustrating the stapleras deformedinraccordance with the present invention.

' Referring now to the drawing, the numeral 11 designates the '.baseVportion of a stapling device having the handle 12 and the `plunger 13which Works in suitable guideways'at'one'end `of the device and visyieldably held in fnormal raised position by spring 14. Said plunger isApreferably provided with a suitable cushion 15 which is applied to theknob 16-,-tl'le` lower endfportion 17 of the plunger being adapted toshear al staple 18 from'a strip'lQ'of preformed staples, said stripbeingfed througha slideway 20` provided therefor inthe base portion.11.' Thestructure thus far described is well known inthe art, andenters into the present invention only in' av general way. A' Y H Inaccordancegwith the generally adopted provisions ina machine of thischaracter the strip 19 of stapless fedintermittently through the machineinto position to be acted upon Vby the plunger 13.by a pawl orf dog 21which engages in apertures 22 provided therefor in the base portion ofthe strip 19, said pawl being pivotallyattached to a lateral plunger 23which is normally pressed by a spring 24 into engagement with a notch 25provided therefor in the plungerr13, said notch 25 and the engaging endportion of the plunger 23 being correspondingly beveled so that when theplunger 13 is depressed there is a cam-like action which forces thetransverse plunger 23V back against the tension of the spring 24, duringwhich movement of the plunger 23 the pawl 21 is drawn rearwardlytherewith and takes a new hold on `the strip 19. vAs the plunger 13 ispermitted to rise the spring 24 again forces the plunger 23 into thenotch 25. There is also provided a pawl 26 which engages the aperturesin the staple strip 19 to prevent accidental return with=the staplestrip V19 by aspring 27' whereby to hold the latter snugly von itsslideway in the base 11, the rear end portion of said member 27 having aknob 29 which normally projects upwardlythrough a slot 30 providedtherefor in the base 1.1, so that by pressing on the knob the forwardportion of the member 27, may be lifted from contact with the strip 19,at will due to its rotation about pivot 28. The pawls 21V and 26 are`also respectively provided with springs 21 and 26. i

In the ordinary machine, as thus far described, the `'staples 18 varesheared successively from the `strip 19 as the latter is fed through themachine, `by depressing the plunger 13, and ordinarily the legs 18 -of`the staples,` which are perpendicular to the body portion of the strip,are driven straightwise into the material in cases where the material issuch as Wood or compressed nbre of the 'character in which the staplewill hold in this condition.v In other cases, as in stapling sheetsofpaper or other material of limitedthicknessfpermitting clinching ofthe blades of the staple on the s ide of the material opposite tothat atwhich the staple is; inserted, the legs of the stapleare driven againstan anvil which may be provided either as apart of the machine or asurface on which themachine supported. In cases where the material is ofinsufficient density or toughness to hold the staples Y,with their legsstraight and perpendicular to the body portion, or it is impossible toutilize a cooperating anvil for clinching the prongs or legs of thestaple, as in applying a label to a closed carton composed of corrugatedpaper or the like, the present invention, which will now be described,may be utilized to advantage.

The present invention comprehends the deflecting of the normallyparallel andv perpendicular legs or prongs of the staple inwardly so asto converge as they are forced into the material. This may beaccomplished by providing the ordinary staple applying device of thecharacter herein described with means for bending the legs or prongs ofthe staple angularly after the 'staple 18 has been severed from thestrip 19L and just prior to driving the staple into the material. Asimple way to accomplish this'is to provide opposed beveled guideportions, the distance between whose extreme edges is less than thelength of the body portion of the staple and the distance between thebases of the bevels being substantially the. same as the length of thebody portion'of the staple. If the opposed beveled guides are parallel,of course, the convergent angular set will be given to the legs orprongs 'of the staple 18, but the body portion will not pass between thebeveled guides without buckling it and inate-Y rially deforming thestaple, which necessitates `withdrawing the guides laterally from thestaple 'or the staple correspondingly from the guides after severancefrom the strip 19 and the staple is driven into the material. Obviously,this does not permit driving the staple entirely into the 'material asthe lower end 17 of the plunger 13 `could not be permitted to travelfarther than the plane of the bases of the beveled-guides or the innerface of vthe plate, which in practice, is 'slotted and beveled toproduce the said guides.

In accordance with `the present invention the beveled guides,designated'by the vnumeral 31, are flared and are produced by bevelingthe opposite sides of a aringslot or notch 32 provided in the end of aplate 33, which latter is secured to the under side of the base portion11 of the stapling machine, and in which 4case thelower end portion 17of the plunger-13'is correspondingly shaped and tapered so as to bepermitted to come flush with the outer face of the plate 33 and therebydrive the staple with the intermediate body portion thereof tightagainst the material to which the staple is applied. By-the flaring ofthe beveled walls 3l of the slot 32 in the plate 33 the staple notl onlyhas its legs or prongs 18' bent and-directed convergently, butit ismoved longitudinally outwardly in the slot 32, owing to the cam effectof the flared and beveled side portions 31 and the correspondinglyformedcooperating end portion 17 of the plunger13f That is to say, asthe staple 18 is-severed from the strip 19 its legs or prongs 18 arefirst brought into engagement with the beveled sides 31 at the narrowinner portion of the slot 32, and then as the plunger 13 continuesdownwardly forcing the staple ahead of it, the staple is at the end ofthe stroke shifted longitudinally outwardlyl in the slot 32 until itsbase portion has reached a wider part of said slot 32 where it will passfreely between theropposite extreme edge portions of the ared taperedwalls 3l.' The n'al clinching of the prongs takes place when the portionthereof adjacent 'the head engages-*the inclined faces V31, and itisthen that the staple is moved longitudinally of the device as the entirestaple has, by this time, passed out of the raceway. This gives from theplate 33.

With the device of the present invention labeling tags may be quicklyapplied to shipping cases or vcartons composed more particularly of theordinary corrugated paper board or other material of substantially thesame characteristics, as the semi-clinching or bending of the legs orprongs 18' of the staples 18 affords sufficient security of attachmentfor the purposes intended.

The invention comprehends broadly the partial clinching or convergenceof the legs Vor prongs of the staples in applying them and, obviously,the means for carrying the invention into effect permits ofconsiderablemodification within the scope of the appended claims. The invention,therefore, is not limited to the specific construction and arrangementshown in the accompanying drawing. Y

Having'thus described my invention, what I claim as new and vdesire tosecure by Letters Patent is: v

l. In a stapling device, provision for a strip of 'pre-formed staples, a:plunger operating to -sever the staples successively from said strip,

means controlled by said plunger for automatically feeding said strip,and a guide through which the severed staples are forced by the plungerand are given aconvergent set-to the legs thereof and which then movesthe staples longitudinally at the end of the stroke to clear the stapleheads from the guide.

2.- In 1a stapling device, provision for a strip of pre-formed staples,a plunger operating to sever the staples successively from said strip,means controlled by said plunger for automaticallyfeeding said strip,and al beveled and flared guide through which 'the severed staples arevforced' by the plunger, so constructed and arranged that the legs ofthe staples are given a convergent set and the staples then movedlongitudinally at the'end of the stroke to clear the heads of thestaplesfrom the guide.

3. In astapling device, provision for a strip of pre-formed staples, aplunger operating to sever the staples successively from said strip,

'meanscontrolled by said plunger for automatically feeding saidstrip andmeans for guiding said staples in the driving of the same, including aplate having a notch the opposite sides of which are beveled andviiared, constructed and arranged so that the'severed staples are forcedby the plunger into the'notchand the prongs of the staples are directedconvergently and the Ystaple is moved longitudinally and verticallyAdownward from the notch at the end of the stroke, owing to the cameffect of the beveled and flared sides.

4. In a machine for applying staples tol ma- .terial of the character ofcorrugated paper board,

a staple guide comprising a plate having a flared .slot therein, thesidewalls of said slot. being beveled', and-a plunger cooperating withsaid guide whereby to bend the legs of the staple convergently duringthe driving operation and move Ail the staple longitudinally from theslot at the end of the stroke. Y

5. In a machine for driving staples produced originally in a strip ofpre-formed staples, a guideway comprising a plate having a flared notchwith beveled sides, means for feeding said strip successively intocooperative relation to said guideway, and a plunger cooperating withsaid a plunger operating to sever the staples successively from saidstrip and controlling said feeding means, means for guiding the staplesin the feeding of the same, including a plate having a notch at one endthereof, the opposite sides of the notch being beveled and flared towardthe end of the plate constructed and arranged so that the severalstaples are forced by the plunger into the notch and the prongs of thestaples are directed convergently by means of the beveled sides and thestaples are moved longitudinally from the notch at the end of the strokeowing to the cameffect of the fiared and beveled sides, substantially asdescribed.

JOHN B. CROFOOT.

